Arrangement
A historic competition where 78 women and 78 men will compete on the same course, for the same prize pool and the same trophy.
The competition is sanctioned by the European Tour on both the women's and men's side and will give ranking points.
In addition, the men get points for the Ryder Cup and points for the playoffs, Race to Dubai, while the ladies get points for their playoffs, Order of Merit.
The best men's player in the competition will receive the highest ranking points given by the European Tour for a competition with 78 participants.
The men and women will be able to be drawn in the same balls and the ladies will play from another tee, otherwise it works as usual, ie the lowest score wins.
Background
Plans to do something different with Sweden's European Tour competition in golf have been around for a few years.
Something that can be a fresh start for a competition that the latest editions have lost in prize money and status on the tour.
One of the ideas was to invite the ladies to a unique mixed competition, and so it will be now.
The idea was that it would be decided for the first time in 2020 at Bro Hof GC outside Stockholm.
But the corona pandemic stopped.
But now it's time for Vallda GC outside Gothenburg.
Can the ladies assert themselves against the gentlemen?
The hope is, according to competition director Mikael Eriksson, that as many ladies as men will pass the qualifying limit after Friday's game.
The ladies will play on a 13.1 percent shorter course than the men's 6464 meters, to compensate for the difference between the sexes in terms of stroke length.
This means that the course will be on average (varies from day to day) 823 meters shorter for the ladies.
But it is not just the length that must be included in the calculations.
The fact that ladies hit the ball with less spin gives a little more roll in the shots, but above all worse conditions to reach certain flag positions if the greens are hard.
This means that you will not place as many flags a short distance into the green or just behind bunkers.
- Clearly we will not put really as tough sticks, says Mikael Eriksson to Swedish Golf.
As this is the first time such a competition has been played, there are no results.
Is the track set fair enough?
It will be revealed pretty soon during Thursday's game.
Expect that there may be changes by Friday ...
Unique competition
The mixed competition is the first so far on the European Tour where men and women meet each other.
In 2019, a similar competition was held for the first time, the Jordan Mixed Open.
But then it was a third from the men's Challenge Tour, the European senior tour Legends Tour and ladies from the European tour.
The outcome that time was successful.
About the same number of challenge tour players, seniors and ladies advanced.
The hope is that this competition will be a success and inspire more people to try something similar on the PGA and LPGA tour in the USA.
Stenson and Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam:
“I love the inclusion with that competition.
That men and women, all golf professionals compete together in Sweden on the same course and for the same prize money.
It's great for golf. ”
Henrik Stenson:
"I think that Scandinavian Mixed can be a good example of inclusion and by inspiring both girls and boys to golf, I hope that we will see more events of this type around the world in the future."
Sörenstam - has she not stopped?
Yes, of course she has stopped.
As early as 2008, perhaps the world's best player of all time put the clubs on the shelf.
But 50-year-old Sörenstam has been getting the urge lately.
In February, she competed in her first LPGA Tour competition in 13 years at her home track Lake Nona in Orlando - and passed the qualifying limit.
Then it was said that it was a one-time event to get in shape for the goal of playing the US Senior Women's Open.
But now she picks up the clubs again.
Of course, the reasons are not only that she suddenly feels like competing, but that she, together with Henrik Stenson, is an ambassador for the competition.
- I look forward to being able to point to Scandinavian Mixed and once again play at the competition level at home in Sweden for the first time in 13 years, the 50-year-old says in a press release.
Banana
The men's Scandinavian Invitation has previously been played in the same area as this year's competition.
In 2019, the competition was played at Hills GC in Mölndal.
But now they have moved another 20 km south in the Gothenburg area, to Kungsbacka and Vallda Golf & Country Club.
The course was completed in the summer of 2009 and is ranked as Sweden's seventh best in the latest ranking of Swedish Golf.
It is a so-called heath course created by Martin Hawtree and Caspar Grauballe, inspired by the legendary English golf courses of the 1920s.
The club's website states: "The course's dry, hard playing surfaces, distinctive bunkers, undulating green areas and strategic holes surrounded by high ruffs are a challenge regardless of disability".
Golf Digest has named Vallda "Sweden's funniest course".